Westercon 66 Day 2

Today was our relatively light-duty day, in that we had no morning commitments and no evening ones, so we could sleep in and didn't have to fret in the evening. Indeed, I actually got to see some of the convention, including attending a panel on which I wasn't a participant, which is pretty rare these days. And at one point I even remembered to get my camera out to take a few photos.

( My favorite costume of the weekend so far )

I spent much of the day in a costume of my own, albeit a far lower-maintenance one.

( It's That Man Again )

In the afternoon, Lisa and I repaired to the Zinfandel Room for the Worldcon Fannish Inquisition, where representatives of the three 2015 Worldcon bids gave presentations and participated in a joint Q&A session, followed by the Kansas City in 2016 Worldcon bid. Lisa shot the videos, which I uploaded to YouTube and posted to the Westercon web site. I moderated the sessions, doing so with a stronger hand than I usually apply to most panels. Having attended so many of these sessions, I've grown tired of the way so many people seem to think that they are chances to show how witty and clever they are or to score points off of other fans. I want them to be fairly serious consideration of the various sites' features and faults, said so up front, and made it stick. (I admit to not being perfect about this myself; it's an aspiration, that's all.)

After dinner, Lisa went to the parties and I wandered down to the Site Selection desk just before closing time, after which I helped count ballots. The nominally official results will be announced at the Saturday Business Meeting, but they aren't secret and they aren't a surprise: San Diego, the only bid on the ballot, won handily. No write-in bid got more than two votes, with five for None of the Above.

Before I went up to the 12th floor and the parties, I went by the Fanzine Lounge, where Chris Garcia was dancing to the music coming from the concerts on the main stage, Friday being Music Night at Westercon 66. As I mentioned yesterday, the Fanzine Lounge's window looks right over the stage, and is highly visible from the main floor. Under the influence of Chris, the Fanzine Lounges have come to be a cool place to hang out, and I went away with a big smile on my face.

Then it was up to the 12th floor and a tour of the parties, ending with me catching up with Lisa. There wasn't anything hugely noteworthy — the usual conversation, smoffing, eating, and drinking — but we had a good time before heading to our room after midnight.

Saturday morning at 11:15 is the Business Meeting. Lisa will be recording and I'm presiding. Alas, all this futzing over computers has kept me awake until 2 AM. I might have to take a nap on Saturday afternoon, given that we have Match Game SF late night after the Masquerade on Saturday.

Westercon seems to be going quite well, and the number of people is matched pretty well to the size of the hotel. There are times when things are a little cramped, and the head of Programming had to be harsh in some of her decisions on account of the total function room space is limited, so you can't have twenty different program tracks, but I think that's a good thing. Most of the people I've seen appear to be enjoying themselves, as am I. With the convention at the half-way point, I'm feeling pretty good about it.

Westercon 66 Day 3

I was able to take a few photos today of the many costumes being worn at Westercon, although this sampling does not do justice to the variety, on account of I was busy with other things like Business Meeting and assisting with the tech for the Fannish Inquisition.

( Here's some of the photos )

More photos on my now-correctly-named Westercon 66 set on Flickr

Tonight it's Match Game SF late night starting at 10 PM (or after the Masquerade, whichever is later). I'm apt to be out rather late. Meanwhile, as I compose this, video of the NASFiC Fannish Inquisition, with presentations from Detroit and from Phoenix (Tempe) and their joint Q&A session, is uploading to YouTube. Once I get a chance, I will also post the videos to the Westercon web site.

Lisa was flattered and pleased to be asked to provide the sound equipment and to be asked to record the Fannish Inquisition. The room in which these were held turns out to have awful acoustics, even though it isn't very large, and we've learned that having even just one microphone, properly used, makes a big difference.

Giving You the Westercon Business

The Westercon Business Meeting was this morning. The only business was the formal announcement of the 2015 Westercon Site Selection results. There were 113 total ballots cast, of which 105 had a preference, and therefore 53 votes were needed to elect (majority). San Diego, the only bid on the ballot, received 92 votes, with 5 for None of the Above, 2 for Reno, and 9 other individual write-in votes. Here's the video of the meeting:

( Give Yourself the Business )

It may not be obvious, but there was a quorum of at least 15 members present. Most of them were sitting behind where Lisa was running the camera, as we discovered that we get much better sound and video quality if she works from mid-room away from the air vent. Regrettably, San Diego's video presentation was very low-contrast, and therefore doesn't show up well in the video. Lisa points out that it was hard to read in the room where she was standing behind the camera.

There was no other business, so after San Diego made their presentation and answered some questions, the meeting adjourned sine die. There will therefore be no proposals forwarded to Salt Lake City for action.